Israeli peace advocate Maoz Inon writes, “The work of peace cannot wait until after the guns fall silent. It begins now – with every conversation.”

Naama Weinberg, whose cousin Itai was murdered by Hamas, writes that the fight to bring the hostages home is a “fight for the soul of our society” and a “fight for us to remain a society that values life more than revenge."

Diana Clark of Massachusetts shares, “if you have hope, please, please hope. Hope for us all. But I am reconciled to loss, including the loss of hope that Israel will ever be for me what I had hoped it would be: a place where the rights...

Rabbi Claudia Kreiman of Massachusetts writes, “Even as we have witnessed the worst of what humanity is capable of, we have also witnessed acts of profound grace and courage.”

University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Abby Tolchinsky writes, “We must find ways to build a better tomorrow and, by doing so, honor the memory of those massacred.”

Sebastien Levi writes, “Antisemitism is all the more poisonous when it turns into a tendency to see antisemitism everywhere, even in good faith criticisms of the Israeli government and its policies."

Paula Weiss of New York writes “I needed to keep open the space for holding multiple truths at once, a space that recognizes Israel’s need for security and its right to exist along with the imperative that Israel adhere to the rule of law."

Rabbi John Rosove of Los Angeles shares, “I worry about the diminishing good name of Israel, the rise of antisemitism, and that so many have lost their moral compass.”

Alma Rutgers of Connecticut writes, “We can’t wish away this past year. But with the gates of heaven open at Rosh Hashanah, we can let our prayers ascend, embracing hope for a good inscription in our Book of Life."

Efrat Machikawa, whose 80-year-old uncle Gadi Moses is still held in Gaza, writes, “Watching the way Netanyahu handles the situation is sickening to many of us. He’s been able to blind the Israeli public and empower a loud extremist group.

Michael Seiden of Arizona writes, “Those of us who feel concern for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are not outcasts to our religion.”